Archive for June, 2011

If only I would receive a penny for the times I have heard ‘I like it because it is a little bit different’. There is no doubt that independent retailers are under enormous pressure from a number of different fronts and there is a relentless quest to be distinctive and different in order to attract customers and sales. However, what if we argued that being different for the sake of being different actually increases the risk of doing business?

Let’s assume an experienced retailer who knows his customers well is constantly changing his stock in order to achieve that ever sought objective of being different. One could argue that seeking that objective per se runs the risk of potentially changing the character, feel, look, appeal or product portfolio to the point of alienating regular customers. The customers could lose the sense of what ‘the shop is all about’. We all visit shops with a pre-determined idea of what it is we are likely to find in it. If we constantly change without a strategic core to what we do, we can suddenly find ourselves in a different ‘planet’ without knowing it.

Normally the large and most professional organisations test all changes or new product entries in order to avoid mistakes. As it is the rule of thumb is that only 2 or 3 new products in10 are successful and the others are failures. Clearly, independent retailers do not have the luxury of testing, measuring and reviewing results. However, we would advocate that the pursuit of changing for changing sake is significantly more risky than sticking to one route and then optimising it to its best or until it is decidedly inappropriate.